Growing Up
by thesarge400
Summary: A story of the Pelekai family, before and after the horrible events that lay the basis for the first movie as Nani is forced to make the jarring transition from aspiring college student to the sole guardian of her little sister.


_Disclaimer: This is on a FAN fiction website, so I do not own or stand to make a profit on anything within this story. Everything belongs to their respective owners yadda-yadda-yadda._

The tragedy of Lilo's family and her relationship with her sister always interested me when I first watched _Lilo & Stitch_. I always related to them in a way, more so than most characters in any form of media. While my personal experiences can't even compare to what these characters went through, I found them so relatable.

I wanted to explore a little bit of the Pelekai family before and after the horrible tragedy that set up the basis for the first movie.

I'm probably just babbling, so I'll just shut up now.

Enjoy.

* * *

_Question 3. Why do you believe you are a fit at the University of Hawai'i? What special skills do you posses that would make you a standout student on and off campus?_

"Nani." A child's voice called out.

Nani Pelekai felt a tug at her jeans. She continued filling out her application.

_Several of my peers have noted that I am attentive-_

A sharper tug, "Nani." The eighteen year-old responded with an absentminded push with her leg, forcing the child back.

_-that I am attentive, caring, and most importantly, motherly. Special skills of mine would include-_

The small hands returned, tugging even harder now. Nani squeezed the pen she held until her fingertips began to hurt.

_Special skills of mine would be the willingness to listen to others-_

"Nani."

_-and most importantly, patience._

"Naniiiiiiiiiiii."

The teen groaned and dropped her head right down on the table. "Lilo," Nani began as she dropped her pen. "Why are you under the dinner table?"

"I made something," the younger Pelekai shouted excitedly as she bobbed up and down, careful not to hit her head against the table above her.

Nani felt something being placed into her lap. Head still planted on the table, the woman reached down with her left hand and grabbed whatever it was that Lilo had just plopped onto her legs.

She brought it back up and placed it beside her head. Turning and opening her eyes, Nani found…_something_.

It was made of green cloth, had buttons for eyes, and a few long strands of 'hair' that looked like dried grass. There was a zigzagging smile marked by red thread dotting across its face. Its head was proportionally much larger in comparison to the rest of the body.

"What's wrong with it?" Nani asked tiredly, an eyebrow raised. "Did a _kanapî _lay eggs in its head or something?"

"Noooo!" Lilo immediately shouted, immediately scaling her older sister's leg in an attempt to get her creation back. A quick hand from her sister prevented her from getting within reach. The girl dramatically fell on the floor, crossing her arms and sticking out her lower lip in a pout as she stared at the ceiling.

Nani looked at it again. It was a doll, sewn together by hand. The craftsmanship was rather rough, a lot of seams weren't properly stitched and the buttons were loosely attached. But she was certainly no expert herself when it came to sewing, so she was very impressed by the fact that a six year-old did this.

"Did you use that sewing kit that Mom got you for your birthday?" She asked.

Lilo immediately rose, smile back on her face as she nodded, "Yeah! I've been working on her for a couple of days now!"

_This thing is a girl? _Nani thought as she turned the doll in her hand. She noticed a tiny pink bow on the crown of its head. _Ah. Yep. Definitely a girl._

As Nani continued to inspect the doll, Lilo prattled on about her creation, "Finding cloth was easy, I borrowed a ton of it from Mom closet. I used cotton balls to fill out her body, but I ran out when I got to her head, so I had to-" The child immediately shut her mouth, smile gone.

Nani glanced at her sister, eyebrow raised, immediately suspicious. "Lilo," she said. "What did you use for the doll's head?"

The six year-olds eyes fell to the floor as her hands came together. Twiddling her thumbs with a nervous fury, she murmured into her shoulder.

Turning in her chair, Nani bent over and repeated herself, "Lilo, what did you use for her head?"

"You know that green pillow that you keep on your bed?" Lilo began softly, voice barely above a whisper, "The one you _don't _sleep on?"

Nani's eyes went wide in shock. "The one that David gave me, my freshman year, for _my _birthday?"

The girl nodded slowly, brown eyes locked on the floor, as if she was afraid that if she looked anywhere else she would be frozen in stone.

"Liloooooooo…" Nani's head found the table again, this time with a very audible _Thud!_

"I'm sorry! It had a hole in it! I didn't know David…I'm sorry!" With her panicked cries she snatched the doll from her sister's hands and made a break for the staircase just down the hall. Hastily grabbing the base of the handrail, the child swung around and began scaling the stairs on all fours, making a dashing escape from a sister that gave no chase.

Nani didn't lift her head until she heard a door slam shut. Propping both hands underneath her chin, the teenager realized she wasn't going to get this application finished anytime soon.

The sweet laughter of Iwone Pelekai filled the air, tiny hands on her hips as she leaned a shoulder against the doorway. "You two will never get along, will you?" When her daughter just sighed back at her, Iwone approached and placed a hand on Nani's shoulder, "She didn't mean any harm, baby."

Her child just groaned, "But David gave it to me nearly four years ago, Mom."

"It's just a pillow, honey. And from the way it sounds, seems to me like you didn't really use it all that much." Iwone grinned as she glanced down at the small stack of applications her daughter was filling out. None of them were anywhere near completion. She snorted, grin still creasing her smooth cheeks, "Plus, what kind of boyfriend gets a girl a _pillow_? If your father gave a pillow as an anniversary gift, he would be sleeping on the couch for a month."

Rolling her eyes, the teenager stated, "He's not my boyfriend. Plus I thought it was sweet."

Iwone laughed again and lifted her child from her chair, quickly embracing her, "I was just teasing, honey." She eyed the stack of papers on the table and looked back at her child, "Take those up to your room, don't worry about them for the rest of the night, okay?"

Squeezing her mother tight, Nani sighed and agreed, "Yeah, okay."

With that, the younger Pelekai released her mother and did as she was asked, climbing the stairs with a stack of barely-started applications. Passing by Lilo's door, a sweet but sad voice passed through the door.

Nani pressed an ear to it, instantly recognizing the tune.

'_Maybe I didn't treat you…'_

'…_Quite as good as I should have.'_

Nani smiled. Some people have been said to wear their hearts on their sleeves, Lilo on the other hand wore her's on records. And it was thanks to their father, who had amassed quite the collection of records over the years, that allowed Lilo to express herself through the sweet crooning of Elvis Presley.

'_Maybe I didn't love you…'_

'…_Quite as often as I could have.'_

Setting down the papers, she slowly opened the door to find her sister sprawled out on the floor, the doll in her hand. A record player sat next to her. Lilo turned to Nani, mouthing the words to the next verse.

'_Little things I should have said and done…'_

'…_I just never took the time.'_

That always got her. Nani gently picked up her sister and cradled her, carefully climbing into Lilo's bed.

"Don't worry about the pillow, okay?" Nani said, brushing a few stray hairs out of her sister's face. "I never used it anyways."

"Yeah," Lilo remarked, digging her face deeper into Nani's belly out of shame. "'Cuz David gave it to you. I should've known."

Nani snorted, then tickled her sister's belly, inciting laughter from her. "You were like _two_ when I got it! I think I can let this slide." Gently, she grabbed the doll from Lilo's tiny hand, bouncing it up and down in her palm. "So, I guess this little guy deserves a name, huh?"

Lilo poked her head up, "It's a _girl_. I already told you that, remember?"

"Riiight," Nani said. "The pink bow, a girl. Sooooo?"

The six year-old looked at her sister as if she was insane, "So what?"

"So, what are you gonna name her?"

Peering at her creation, Lilo pondered for several moments. Then she smiled.

"Scrump. Her name is gonna be Scrump."

* * *

More to come later, maybe. This is my first non-videogame fic, so I'm used to a _very_ different way of writing things. Tell me what you think.

Peace.


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